Detective in Town II: Prologue
by long live marshmallows
Summary: IN PROGRESS: The past doesn't always stay in the past, as Nana and Iemitsu are about to find out. A long forgotten dangerous enemy reappears during Vongola Decimo's first year as Boss. A thankless job, Tsuna concludes hysterically, after hearing Nana's story, only to then read Hibari's report about a team of newbie police investigators determined to make their mark!
1. My Boyfriend, the Mafioso

**Detective in Town II: Prologue**

 **Summary:** IN PROGRESS: The past doesn't always stay in the past, as Nana and Iemitsu are about to find out. A long forgotten adversary reappears during Vongola Decimo's first year as Boss. A thankless job, Tsuna concludes hysterically, after hearing Nana's story, only to then read Hibari's report about a team of newbie police investigators determined to make their mark!

 **Time line:** Set ten years after the events of _Detective in Town._

 **A/N:** Yeah...I thought it'll be fun to post this here. I did post this as a oneshot on Penana, but I figured it would work well as the plot for _Detective in Town II._

You don't have to read the first fic to understand this one.

Enjoy!

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 **Chapter 1**

 _Italy, year 19XX_

Nana knew something was off with her boyfriend the moment he entered the square. It didn't have anything to do with how he looked—he was wearing dark jeans and the dark red sweater she had given to him as a present. His blond hair was shorter than the last time she laid eyes on him and she found the new style dashing.

No, his choice in clothing wasn't what set off her alarms.

She was sitting by the fountain and started to greet him with a smile, but he didn't notice her—actually, that wasn't it—he was avoiding eye contact even when she looked at him. Her hand dropped back to her side.

It wasn't like him to ignore her. Within a week of their meeting on the streets of Italy, Nana knew that he was smitten with her and took every chance to shower her with affection. She loved him just as much and couldn't imagine a day without him. She saw their future, with a child in the picture. How they got there though, she knew would be through uneven grounds…maybe even dangerous. And she didn't mind dangerous, as long as she had him.

He continued to walk with a purpose as he brought out his phone and put it against his ear. Seconds later, Nana's phone rang and she hurried to pick it up.

"Pronto."

" _Ciao, —ah, erm, ciao, my friend!"_

Nana frowned at the strange reply but continued the conversation. "Ciao. How are you?"

" _Yeah, you know that meet we had to your place? I'm afraid we're going to have to reschedule."_

They were supposed to go to the theatre, not her apartment. "I see…that's too bad."

" _One moment, it's hard to hear you from my location…ah, that's better."_ Iemitsu had moved toward the other exit of the square, still looking around. His face sported a confused and anxious frown as he moved on.

Nana didn't turn to follow his movements, knowing that something was amiss. Instead, she cast her eyes around her side of the fountain. From the corners of her eyes during her survey, she noticed a figure leaning stiffly against a wall trying to look casual. Another was kneeling in front of a woman with tarot cards but was shooting Iemitsu subtle looks every few seconds.

" _Gomen, Nana,"_ Iemitsu said in a lowered tone. Nana closed her eyes with a smile as she listened to his voice. _"I'm afraid that I can't meet with you today. There're…some issues that came up at work. I was already on my way here, so it'll look suspicious if I turned around...and I just had to see you today, even if it was just a glance."_

Nana smiled and let a soft hum travel through the phone. She brushed a hand through her long brown hair and twirled a few strands around a finger. "No, it's alright," Nana said. She sighed. "Should I worry?"

" _Eh! You should never worry,"_ Iemitsu replied hastily. _"I'll be fine._ We _will be fine. It's just that things are shaking up in the headquarters. Once things are settled down, I promise you that we…"_

"…We…?" Nana prompted when he didn't finish his sentence.

" _Never mind, I'll speak to you in person about it!"_

Nana laughed. "Hai, hai. Be careful."

" _I will, Nana."_

Nana held the phone to her ear until she heard the beep that indicated the end of her temporary connection to him. Then she opened her eyes with a smile.

"My, Alicia sure is late today. And not answering her cell either. Maybe I should call her home phone." She dialled her friend's number and waited for her to pick up. "Ciao, Alicia, it's Nana. Where are you? I'm waiting in the square…eh? It's not today? It's _tomorrow?_ Ara, ara! Silly me, I was so excited that I thought it was today!" Nana giggled at her friend's flustered reply.

She started forward, passing the man leaning against the wall. "It's not your fault, Alicia. I had a lot on my mind this morning. Well, I guess now's as good a time as any to do my shopping…yes! That store just down the street from our restaurant is having a sale this week. I was thinking of going there to buy those fabulous gloves…"

As she left the square, she half turned to see the men disappearing after her boyfriend. She continued to walk in the opposite direction with determined steps.

 _Come back to me, Iemitsu. Come back to me safe. I have a mind to set you in my future._

* * *

 **A/N:** This is just to give you a taste of how I'll be writing Nana in this story. I hope you like it?

 **Published 2016-09-05th**

* * *

 _ **-LLM**_


	2. DOCI: Investigation Starts!

**a/n:** I'm glad you're all happy there's a sequel! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2  
**

 _Italy, 20XX, Police Headquarters_

"Hold the elevator please!"

Lia stabbed the button in the elevator just as the doors were about to close. She looked out into the hallway to the lobby and saw a young man rushing toward her, waving his hands frantically, his jacket hanging off from one arm and his tie in his mouth with the ends streaming behind him.

He jumped into the elevator and grinned. "Thmks!"

Lia gave him a polite smile. "Floor?"

"Eghsheemph." He was about to press it himself but saw that the button for the eighteenth floor was already lit. He took his tie out of his mouth. "Oh. Are you one of the new assistant chiefs?"

"Yes. And you?"

He chuckled and nodded. "I'm Desmond."

"Anillia. Everyone calls me Lia."

"Lia it is. Excuse me, Lia. I was running late today, so I'm just going to..." he waved at his unkempt mop of red hair, so disorganized and blindingly red, unlike Lia's neatly tied off black hair.

Lia hid a snort, but she rolled her green eyes. "Go ahead."

As they rode the elevator, people got on and off, all the while Desmond fixed his hair and fixed his tie. When the elevator reached the eighteenth floor, he was presentable.

They were greeted by large letters on the wall that spelled out their department's name.

 _D.O.C.I._

 _Department of Organized Crime Investigations._

Lia took in a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator with Desmond. The man at the front desk looked up at them with a smirk. "Desmond. You've been early for five days in a row now. You're not going to break your streak, are you?"

"I'm a changed man, Pino! I'm never going to be late again. I'll be _on time."_ Desmond bowed dramatically.

Pino laughed and jerked a thumb to the left. "Hurry up, or you'll have to take back those words before they finish echoing."

Desmond gave Pino a perfect salute, ruined by a cheeky grin, and led Lia down the hallway to a meeting room. In it stood eight young police officers, all of whom chattered away with one another.

To her surprise, Lia recognized almost all of them.

"Lia!"

"Oh hey, it's Lia! I didn't know they picked you, too! That makes seven of us from the Academy."

"It's been a year since graduation! How have you been?"

"H-Hey...I'm doing well, thanks. And you guys?" Lia didn't know who to answer first, overwhelmed as she was by the attention she was getting from her former classmates.

Before they could answer her, the door to the room slammed shut and all of them whirled to face it, their hands slapping to their weapon holsters.

The woman was five feet and seven inches tall. She had the hard eyes of a cop and had a long, thin scar running down her head behind her left earlobe. Her hair was a dark brown, cut in a burr. Her only accessory was a silver earring on her right earlobe.

She eyed each one of them before she nodded and walked to the front of the room. "I might say that you're all a little twitchy to be going for your guns in the middle of headquarters, but you never know what will happen. And considering the work each of you have done in the past year since graduating, I'd say you've honed your reflexes well in a short period of time. _However."_ She dropped the thick binders she carried onto the table and placed her hands on either side of them. "You'll have to do better, if you want to survive in DOCI. Introduce yourselves and take a seat. Start from tallest to shortest."

Desmond was taller than the rest of them by a full head and he smiled sheepishly as they all turned their heads to him. Lia took the position to his left, and the others fell into line.

"I'm Desmond. I've been on the job for three years and I've been working with the Organized Crimes Unit. I patrolled the streets that had the most gang-related trouble."

Gasps were easy to hear in the silence at the name of the Organized Crimes Unit. It was DOCI's predecessor, but was abolished when Internal Affairs found out the assistant chiefs and higher ranking officers were on the Mafia's payroll.

"So _you're_ the one who..." someone muttered before he was elbowed.

The woman nodded at Lia. "Next."

"I'm Lia. I've been working with the financial guard for a year."

She and Desmond took their seats around the large table while the rest of the officers introduced themselves.

"Okay," the woman said after the last officer sat. "I am Ilda, your deputy-superintendent. You will report to me during your first two months of training before I partner you up and release you to your own investigations as an assistant chief." She cocked her head to the side. "Really, at this stage, we see you as baby-chiefs, not even considered assistant chiefs, even if that is what is on your job description. Your first assignment is to find gather all the information you can on whatever we tell you to gather. Don't think for a second that this is a cushy job. You won't be relaxing behind a computer and looking up information. Anyone can do that. What you have to do is find information that we do not already have and report back. Use your contacts, your skills, and most importantly, your own mind, to dig up the information—the _evidence_. I don't care where you have to go to find that information, as long as you bring it back without endangering us or your comrades. Watch every step you take and make sure you understand the world you are stepping into."

Ilda paused. "Mafia politics. That is what we are talking about." She pointed emphatically out the window. "They have a hierarchy. Someone who controls the rest of them. Don't destabilize that structure before we are ready to take down the entire organization. Or else you, and the rest of us, will have hell to pay for. Is that clear?"

"Yessir!"

"Good. Now I'm going to give you your assignment." Ilda smirked. "It's the assignment that most Baby Cheeks receive when they first come to us."

Jaws dropped at the nickname. _Baby Cheeks!?_

Ilda slid three binders down each side and waited for the officers to take a look.

Desmond opened the binder and slid it between him and Lia.

 _File #OCVONG2772_

 _VONGOLA FAMIGLIA, YEARS 20XX-XX  
_

"The Vongola?" someone exclaimed.

"You need us to find information on the Vongola, the strongest Mafia family?" Desmond flipped through the pages. "But—"

"—But shouldn't we have more than enough information on them, maybe even our own team that investigates the Vongola?" Ilda completed Desmond's sentence. She glared at him. "Haven't you been keeping up to date?"

Desmond winced. "Um...sorry. Not recently. Been busy."

"Even if you are busy with your personal life, or if your week is filled with court appearances, your life may depend on you keeping up to date with new developments. The Vongola is always an important topic because for as long as we have kept files on them, the Vongola was, and is, always at the head of the Mafia."

Desmond nodded meekly.

"Usually, we would assign two or three of you to the Vongola Family and have the rest of you focus on other families that pertain to active cases that assistant chiefs are solving. This time, eight of you are going to be investigating the Vongola full time while two of you will take on light Vongola members to investigate so you can split your time to help the assistant chiefs with additional research."

Ilda folded her arms. "Can anyone tell me why I am having more of you assigned to the Vongola? No one? Anyone. Come on, Baby Cheeks. Don't be shy."

"Vongola Decimo," Lia murmured.

"Perfect answer," Ilda said. "Vongola Decimo and his Guardians. Two days ago in Japan, the Vongola had a ceremony where a man, Tsunayoshi Sawada, was officially declared as Vongola Decimo. He and his Guardians are moving to Italy some time this week. We don't know when yet, and one of you will be responsible for figuring that out." Ilda gave them a cold smile. "You should feel lucky. This happened close enough to your orientation day that we've decided to let you guys tackle the tenth generation. Now. Someone list out the titles his Guardians have."

Desmond raised his hand.

"Shut up, Desmond."

His half-raised hand fell to the table with a slap. "No one else is answering," he protested.

"Because you're taking all the answers."

"I haven't said anything!"

Ilda waited another minute before saying, "Lia, do you know the answer?"

Lia cleared her throat. "Their titles are Sun, Cloud, Rain, Storm, Lightning, and Mist. The Boss is the Sky."

"Very good," Ilda said. "As far as we know, that is correct. These titles correspond with the "flame" that these Mafiosi seem to have the ability to wield. No one that we've caught will tell us about these "flames". Some of our assistant chiefs are looking into that aspect, so feel free to ask your seniors for help.

"Figure out who is going to investigate which guardians. Figure out a plan of action and have one of you report back to me about it, while the rest of you start investigating. Understood?"

"Yessir!"

Ilda nodded and started for the door. "Oh, and those files are on our offline databases," she said, just as a few heads started to dip down to flip through the thick binders.

The door clicked shut.

All ten officers sighed.

"That was intense!"

"Not much more than my last superior."

"Who are you going to investigate?" Lia asked the room's occupants.

"The Cloud Guardian! He's the toughest."

"I thought that would be the boss?" Desmond queried.

"I heard that the Cloud Guardian is stronger than the Boss."

Desmond raised his eyebrows. "From...?"

"I have my own sources."

"If each of us takes a Guardian and the boss, that still leaves two newbies without a target," Desmond said.

They paused, and looked around them. Suddenly, pandemonium reigned.

"I call the female Mist Guardian!"

"Sun Guardian!"

"Dude, I wanted the Sun Guardian!"

"Well, too bad!"

"Fine, then the R—"

"Rain Guardian, called it!"

"Not cool, dude. Rain was my second choice! Jeez, okay, I'll take the Lightning Guardian!"

Lia flipped through the measly few pages that was about the Tenth Vongola generation. As far as DOCI knew, the boss and each Guardian were strong. According to files shared by the Japanese police force, they were young, but could hold their own against fully trained assassins. When they were attacked by assassins, Decimo's parents were vacationing in Italy, conveniently out of the way. His father is a construction worker, who is contracted to wherever—around the world, apparently—construction workers were needed. Decimo's mother is the hearth warmer, simply put, there to take care of her son in her husband's absence. But what else?

Lia flipped the page and flipped back. Page two. Page three. No missing pages. _This is all DOCI has of Nana Sawada? How is that possible? She's the mother of Decimo. Did they never talk to her about the Mafia? Didn't she figure out something was afoot? They don't even have her basic data...then again, they did say DOCI only opened these files recently..._

"I think I'll take Kenshin Nori," Desmond said.

"Who's he?" the rest asked.

Desmond tapped a finger to the binder Lia was flipping through. "The report about Vongola Decimo's family is written by a man named Kenshin Nori ten years ago. He was a detective in the Japanese police force, but he resigned immediately following the investigation on the Vongola. I want to know what happened to him and why there's speculation that he wasn't in his right mind when he wrote it. No one has seen him in ten years."

Someone snorted. "Have fun with that."

"All the Guardians and Boss are taken?" Lia asked.

"Yes."

"Then..." Lia looked down to the profile picture of Nana, who was smiling up at her. "Nana Sawada. Decimo's mother."

One of the newbies leaned back. "You two took the Deputy-Sup's definition of 'light Vongola members' pretty seriously. How much information do you think you'll be able to gather about a missing detective and a house wife?"

Lia closed the binder. "Who knows? I'm going to start now and see how far I get."

* * *

 **A/N:** Wohooo, you made it to the end of chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it.

From what I've researched, assistant chiefs are the ones who do the actual crime solving. So I guess they have the same job as a detective. They're also quite low in the cop hierarchy. That's pretty much the extent of my research. Everything else is made up.

 **Replying to Guest Reviews:**

I haven't read any stories about Nana being an assassin/info broker, though it sounds pretty cool! But I don't have anything that...well, to steal Ryohei's word, I don't have anything that extreme up my sleeve xD (and look forward to the next chapter! I'm going to call it 'Chapter 3: Inheritance Ceremony Pt 1'!).

I won't make any promises, but I will try to update soon :)

Since this is ten years later from the previous fanfic, you'll be seeing 16-year-old Lambo's side of the time travels! Fun, huh? I'm really looking forward to writing those parts.

 **Uploaded 2016-09-22nd**

 **Edited 2016-09-22nd**

* * *

 **- _LLM_**


	3. Inheritance Ceremony Pt 1

**A/N:** Thanks for all the favs and follows! Only two chapters in and so many people are interested...I hope you enjoy this chapter! To my guest reviewer to wanted to see the Inheritance Ceremony, here is part one.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _Two days earlier..._

"Ara! So the Ceremony is today?" Nana smiled as she set Reborn's cup of espresso in front of him.

Reborn accepted it and took a sip. "If you think about it, it was delayed for quite a while. The first Inheritance Ceremony was around ten years ago, after all."

Nana sat down across from the eleven-year-old hitman and rested her chin on her hands. "Mm. Will Enma-kun be attending this time as well?"

"Of course. He's Tsuna's best friend and the Shimon Boss."

"I wish I could go," Nana said with a faraway look in her eyes. "Tsu-kun is going to be Vongola Decimo after tonight and I want to see it happen."

Reborn smirked. "There's no reason why you can't go." He told her his plan in a few words and sipped his espresso.

Nana stared at him for a second before clapping her hands together. "Reborn-kun, that idea is perfect!"

* * *

"I don't have a problem with the room," Tsuna insisted, tilting his head back to see his Cloud Guardian leaning against the banister on the second floor.

Hibari raised his eyebrows. "I didn't say you did."

Tsuna scowled and loosened his tie. "I'm just nervous, okay? That's why I can't relax in this room. It's not what's _in_ here." He pointed to the doors. "It's what is on the _other side_ of the door."

"Hn."

Tsuna ran his hands through his brown hair. "What if something goes wrong? I know Enma's not going to crash the Ceremony this time, but what if someone else does? What if Xanxus starts thinking I'm trash again and starts killing people?"

A bloodthirsty glint lit Hibari's eyes. "Oh? Is that your Hyper Intuition talking?" He fingered his Vongola Gear, which was partially hidden under the cuff of his black suit.

"No, it's not saying that! I haven't been getting any alarms—don't you dare start a fight, Kyoya."

Hibari glared at Tsuna. "Herbivore. Shut up and stop pacing."

A chill ran down Tsuna's back at Hibari's words. They'd known each other long enough that Tsuna heard the unvoiced threat. "Okay, okay..." Tsuna rubbed his head and took a seat on the red and golden couch, which was placed a few metres away from a large window. His footsteps were muffled by the carpet, which covered every square inch of the room, from the doors to the winding staircase that led to where Hibari stood.

Tsuna leaned against the backrest and felt something under his seat. Cautiously, he reached under the cushion…and pulled out a pink grenade. He examined the grenade he clutched in his right hand. "This is Lambo's. Why is it...?" He looked around the room again. "Is he here already?"

"You should know the answer to that question," a child's voice said. "No one else has used this room since the last time you were here."

Tsuna turned around and saw Reborn in the doorway. The hitman was wearing his customary suit. Even on this occasion, Leon rested on the black fedora.

Tsuna couldn't help but sigh in relief that he hadn't jumped at Reborn's approach. As always, Tsuna didn't hear Reborn enter, but he should have sensed him. _Guess I'm not paying enough attention._

"What do you mean? Why hasn't anyone else use this room?"

"Only the Vongola Boss and his Guardians have their photos taken in here. But Nono and his Guardians decided long ago that they preferred to take their pictures elsewhere." Hands in his his pockets, Reborn leaned against the wall. "Everyone, except the cleaning staff, is prohibited from entering unless the Vongola allows it."

"It doesn't look like they cleaned the room very well," Tsuna said, tossing the grenade up and down a few times before putting it away in his pocket.

He heard familiar footsteps race down the corridor toward the room and steeled himself for anything. What was happening now?

Gokudera entered the room and went straight to Tsuna. "Juudaime, I'm terribly sorry."

"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong." Having grown used to Gokudera's polite demeanour, Tsuna's words came almost automatically.

Gokudera was clearly worried about something. His impeccable suit was unbuttoned and his tie was hanging out of a pocket. Gokudera had taken it upon himself to be the perfect right-hand man he thought the Vongola needed and was always prepared when it came to social functions. The Inheritance Ceremony should have topped that list.

"Hayato?"

Gokudera sucked in a breath and threw a glance behind him before blurting out in a hiss, "Aneki was giving me a ride to the venue when Reborn-san called and asked her to pick him up, and of course, she agreed, so we headed to your house. She parked right outside your house and got out in her formal dress. I went with her to the door, thinking that Reborn-san only called us when Okaa-san was out, but she was home and came to the door with Reborn. When she saw us in formal attire, Okaa-san asked about the occasion."

With the room only occupied by Tsuna, Gokudera, Hibari, and Reborn, it was quiet. But even if Yamamoto, Lambo, and Ryohei arrived, Tsuna didn't think he would hear them. All of his attention was focused on his Storm Guardian's words. His heart nearly stopped as he thought of what he was hearing. It just couldn't be possible, right? Very slowly, he raised his hands. He grabbed Gokudera by the arms. "And?"

"Reborn-san told her that we were going to a party to celebrate you taking over Nono's company, and she wanted to come—"

His fingers dug into Gokudera's sleeves. "What?" Blood drained from Tsuna's face and he looked toward the door, now as frantic as Gokudera.

"—Aneki and Reborn-san couldn't find a good enough reason to stop her from coming, since after all, it's an important day for Juudaime, who will officially be taking over the Vongola, and of course, everyone should know about your accomplishments—"

"—H-Hayato, focus—"

"—Okaa-san came with us and, well..." Gokudera faced the door.

Tsuna watched Sawada Nana step over the threshold with a bright smile on her face. She wore an elegant deep blue dress that fell to her high heels, shoes Tsuna had never seen his mother wear before. A black purse hung from her shoulders by a golden chain.

"Kaa-san!"

Nana twirled around in fascination as she took in the entire room and all its splendour. "Tsu-kun, this is a wonderful mansion! I haven't explored it yet, but from what I saw on my way here, it's beautiful!"

 _What do I do? What do I do!? Why is this happening to me?_ "Kaa-san, why are you here?!" _At least we're only in a villa and not in Vongola HQ! Thank goodness for small mercies._

Nana giggled and gave her son a once-over. "My, you look all smart and handsome! Oh, Reborn-kun told me there was a party being thrown just for you. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't attend? I'll be in the crowd with your dad. I'm so proud of you, Tsu-kun."

She enveloped him in a hug and Tsuna forgot his worries, if only for a moment. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.

"Mum, Iemitsu is looking for you. He just realized you were at the party," Reborn said, holding his phone away from his ear. Even from where he stood, Tsuna could hear Iemitsu screaming through the phone, asking why Nana was at a Mafia gathering.

"I'll go find him," Nana said. "Is he in the garden we just passed, where a nice young man was playing with his mink?"

"Ah."

 _Isn't that Bel!?_

"I should walk you there," Tsuna said.

"She'll be fine, Tsuna," Reborn said and pocketed his phone.

Before Tsuna could protest, Nana walked out the door. Tsuna followed her to the doorway, but she pushed him back in.

There was a moment of shocked silence in the room.

"Reborn, Kaa-san is at the _Inheritance Ceremony!"_ Tsuna whirled to face his ex-tutor, who...wasn't there. "Reborn?"

The distinctive aroma of Reborn's special blend of espresso reached Tsuna's nose and he turned to the espresso machine, which he swore wasn't in the room before now. It sat on the writing desk with Reborn standing in front of it.

"Don't worry. I told her it was just a party," Reborn said and hopped onto the desk. He crossed his dangling legs and sipped from his cup.

"But why is she _here?"_ Tsuna pointed the ground in emphasis.

"Bianchi couldn't convince her to stay at home."

 _Bianchi and_ you, Tsuna corrected in his head. He gulped when Reborn eyed him over the rim of his cup.

Tsuna tried to mask his thoughts with the problem at hand. "Y-You do know that she's going to know we're in the Mafia the moment she talks to someone or sees the Ceremony, right?"

"The Inheritance Ceremony shouldn't mention anything about the Mafia. From the outside, it looks like an ordinary party to celebrate a new CEO for a business."

Tsuna tried to see it, but couldn't. People like Squalo, who had a sword for a prosthetic limb, just didn't scream "business man" in the normal sense.

"I doubt any of the Mafiosi would be openly talking about the Mafia, either. You never know who is listening."

"As in spies?" _Like undercover cops?_ Apprehensively, Tsuna eyed the room in a new light.

Gokudera also looked the room over with a critical eye. "Don't worry, Juudaime. I won't let anyone harm you! We dealt with Nori Kenshin easily. We can do it again if we have to."

Tsuna frowned at the mention of the detective who, ten years ago, tried to investigate the next generation of the Vongola. He wasn't really sure what happened to Kenshin. Between witnessing grenade blasts and assassination attempts, and experiencing poison cooking and seeing the Ten-Year Bazooka in action, Kenshin probably wasn't fully sane by the time he finally left Namimori.

 _If the police decided to send an undercover cop to spy on the Vongola family..._ Tsuna shivered. _I worry for that detective's sanity._

"Don't worry too much about it," Reborn said. "CEDEF's sweep for spies came up negative. Either they are very good, or there aren't any in the Vongola as of..." He checked his watch. "Twenty-six hours ago."

"That's good—"

"THIS PLACE IS _EXTREME!"_

The walls shook and china cups vibrated on their saucers. They nearly fell off the tables, thanks to the thundering voice, which grew to deafening proportions when its owner stood in the echoing chamber that was the foyer.

"Ryohei, that was way too loud," a bored voice complained when the echo subsided. "I think one of my eardrums burst."

"You're just lacking spirit, Lambo! Come on! It's this way!"

"O-Oi, wait for me—hey, you're going the wrong way!"

"Juudaime..."

"...Yeah?"

"If there were any listening devices planted in this mansion..."

"...They're probably broken."

Gokudera sighed and opened the door. He paused for a second before shouting, "Hey, you idiots, it's over here!"

"Oh! Hayato, there you are. This place is _extreme!"_

"I heard you the first time. _Everyone_ probably heard you." Gokudera tsked and stepped back to let the Sun and Lightning Guardians into the room. Ryohei and Lambo were both dressed in black, with their dress shirt matching the colour of their flame: green for Lambo, and a golden-yellow for Ryohei.

Tsuna called out to Lambo, who lurked by the door. "Lambo, catch."

Lambo looked up and, with eyes bugged out of his head, scrambled to catch the pink grenade that Tsuna tossed at him. He caught it and with some relief, noted that the pin was still in place. "Yare, yare, Vongola. Where'd you find this one?"

"Under that couch."

"I swear I didn't do it!"

Tsuna sighed. "It's from ten years ago. You probably put it there as a prank, but forgot about it by the time we finished taking the picture."

Lambo squinted at the grenade. "You're right. The colour's off. The Bovino Family doesn't make grenades this type of pink anymore."

Gokudera grabbed Lambo in a headlock. "Juudaime was sitting on that couch!"

"He wouldn't have died!" Lambo protested. "Besides, I was probably aiming for you!"

Tsuna stepped in between them with his arms outstretched. "Hai, hai. No fighting amongst ourselves today, remember?"

"Of course, Juudaime." Gokudera shot another angry look at Lambo before shaking his head. "It was ten years ago. I should just forget about it."

Ryohei put a firm and pitying hand on Gokudera's shoulder. "You can't do that because five-year-old Lambo has been appearing to the _extreme!"_

Gokudera stifled a groan as he remembered. "I thought I was rid of that Stupid Cow."

Lambo winced and laughed. "Right…my five-year-old self…"

Ryohei straightened his tie with his bandaged hands. "By the way, why aren't you ready, Octopus-Head? I thought the photographer was coming in fifteen minutes!"

Gokudera glared at Ryohei and whipped out his tie. "There's a problem. Juudaime's mother is here."

"Why is that a problem? We're all allies here. She'll be _extremely_ safe, even if she's with other Mafia members."

Gokudera threaded his tie through the final loop of the Windor knot and jerked it downward. "That's not the point, Turf-Top. She doesn't know we're in the Mafia."

"What?" Ryohei's eyes widened. "She doesn't know!? Hmm. That's an extremely long time to keep a secret, Sawada."

Tsuna scratched his head. "I know. It's just...the way she acts sometimes...she's so cool with everything we do with Reborn and the kids, and never questions anything. It just...I was never directly confronted by her. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"She accepted the lies I told her about you without question," Reborn said. "She never put pressure on you to tell her the truth, so you never felt burdened by ten years of secrecy. Isn't that right, Tsuna?"

His guardians turned to Tsuna. Shamefaced, he nodded. "I shouldn't have taken advantage of Kaa-san like that. She has the right to know what her son and husband are up to."

Not commenting on Tsuna's statement, Reborn finished his espresso. "Setting that aside, a few of your guardians are late."

Tsuna nodded. "Where's Takeshi? Chrome and Mukuro aren't here yet, either."

Yamamoto stepped into the room just at the tail of Tsuna's question. "Didn't Chrome say she was going to hang out with Haru ad Kyoko during the day?"

"Takeshi!"

"Yo!" Takeshi gave them all a wave with his bamboo sword, which was encased in a cloth bag. He set it next to the couch. "Who's up for a midnight baseball game after the Ceremony?"

"Takeshi," Ryohei said with a disapproving look. "We should go boxing, not play baseball! Boxing is the EXTREME SPORT!"

Yamamoto laughed and put his hands on his hips. "Come on, let's go play baseball this time!"

As the two sports maniacs continued to—again—debate the extremeness of their favoured sport, Tsuna returned to his seat on the couch. He smiled and took in the argument between Gokudera and Lambo as Gokudera fought to straighten Lambo's unruly locks of hair.

Chrome quietly slipped into the room, only to be met by a scream from Lambo, who still wasn't used to her sudden appearances out of mist. However, Lambo was quick to ask if she brought back any cakes. Yes, she did. They were in the fridge back home.

Tsuna let out a soft chuckle. He and everyone else had grown used to the noise after so long. Now, Tsuna felt unease when his day wasn't filled with his family's chatter. Even Hibari's silence spoke volumes at how he had grown used to the other guardians. When he looked up to the second floor, Tsuna could only see the back of Hibari's head over the couch. The Cloud Guardian was probably taking a nap. Or whatever he did that wouldn't be easily disturbed by the noise downstairs.

His eyes caught the glint of Hibari's bracelet on the Cloud Guardian's left wrist. Looking toward his other guardians, Tsuna saw that they wore their Vongola Gear as well. Gokudera's Buckle of the Storm was polished so well that it gleamed whenever the light hit it.

Ryohei's Bangle of the Sun rested on his upper arm. It moved whenever he gestured wildly at Yamamoto, whose Rain Necklace chimed on its chain around Yamamoto's neck as he moved around the room with Ryohei in tow. Those two never could hold a conversation without moving, Tsuna mused.

Chrome's Mist Earrings, shaped like cut diamonds, dangled from her ears and complemented her indigo-coloured gown. Her purple hair, no longer following Mukuro's pineapple-shaped style, was left untied and the tips brushed against her shoulders.

Lambo...Tsuna scanned his Lighting Guardian to make sure that he was well-protected. He was confused when he didn't see it. Lambo was at least wearing a ring, but...

"Lambo, where's your storage box?"

Both Gokudera and Lambo's hands were digging into Lambo's hair when they paused to look at Tsuna.

"Um," Lambo said. "It's right here." Tugging a hand free, Lambo flipped the left flap of his jacket up to reveal a silver chain. He pulled at it and the green Vongola Box Weapon, customized into a Vongola Gear Box, was yanked out of the pocket Lambo kept it in.

Lambo waved his right hand. "I even have the Class-A Lightning Ring that Hibari found for me."

It was a simple ring made of the finest materials that could withstand the power of Lambo's Lightning Flames for at least ten uses. Hibari still wouldn't tell them where he was getting them from, but he had enough to supply the Vongola with what they needed.

Lambo pushed Gokudera off of him and straightened his suit. "My hair is fine, Bakadera."

"Um...excuse me... Decimo?" a woman with short spiky brown hair peered into the room, carrying a black rectangular camera case. She was dressed in a black Oxford shirt and a pair of red jeans.

Gokudera and Lambo stopped wrestling. Across the room, Yamamoto and Ryohei paused in their imitations of baseball and boxing.

Tsuna froze in his seat. _Ah...she saw us,_ he thought with a mental cringe—he didn't dare make it physical, as he was sure Reborn would be able to sense it from the espresso machine—that man, er, boy, er _hitman_ , saw everything!

Tsuna cleared his throat. "Are you the photographer?"

"Yes, I'm Isa. Should I start setting up?"

Tsuna gestured her in with a smile. "Please do."

Isa returned the smile. "It'll be just five minutes, tops." She turned around and bracing her legs and back, she dragged in the trolley that was in the corridor. She yanked it across the room over the carpeted floor. It was so thick that the trolley's wheels dragged more than rolled over the carpet.

"Do you want some help?" Gokudera asked in the silence as Isa passed him. She was five feet tall, and it looked like she was using every muscle in her body to roll the trolley.

"Nope!" Isa sang out. With a final huff and a grin, she whirled to face Tsuna. "Alright. Would everyone please take their seats?"

* * *

Isa pulled out the digital camera as Decimo's guardians got into position. The Storm and Rain Guardians took the seats on either side of Decimo, who sat in the middle. The Mist Guardian stood to the Storm Guardian's right, while the Sun and Lightning Guardians stood behind the couch. The Lightning Guardian whispered enthusiastically with the Mist Guardian, but the Storm Guardian smacked the younger man's arm to get him to settle down.

She tilted her head and stared at the image. Yeah. The lighting needed to change.

Isa went to the window and dragged the drapery from each side to the middle and stepped back to make sure the curtains were fully shut.

"That's better."

She looked up the stairs and saw the Cloud Guardian making his way down. Well then. All of them are here. Now she had to focus on setting up the equipment. Tapping her fingers against her thighs, she hurried back to the camera and connected it to the computer. Automatically, the program began to run. She let it adjust the camera's focus and tripod height. That would take another minute or two.

Heck, if only her boss had let her set up the camera and the computer before Decimo and his Guardians entered the room. That way, she won't have to have all seven of them staring at her for so long. But orders were orders and Isa's boss told her to not, under any circumstances, leave the thousand-dollar camera and computer in the room with Decimo's Guardians. Why? She had no idea. Even her boss didn't know. He was just told by _his_ boss that he might never get his camera back if it was left alone in the room with them.

The lightning was still off. With a remote control, Isa adjusted the light in the room until she was satisfied. The Cloud Guardian joined them on the left side of the couch and leaned against the wall.

"There's just one more person," Decimo said.

Isa looked up from the computer. She was about to ask but she shut her mouth. Of course. Vongola Decimo had _two_ Mist Guardians. "I'll wait."

Decimo looked hesitant to speak for a moment. When he did, his voice was carefully casual. "Actually, it's not that we need to wait…" he paused for a second before sighing. "Mukuro, are you coming out yet?" he called out.

All the guardians sighed and looked around for the person their boss was talking to. Isa did the same, wondering if Decimo was a little touched in the head. Maybe he had an imaginary friend and the rest of his guardians were humouring him— _oka-a-a-ay, or not,_ she corrected herself as she heard a chuckle resound through the room.

"Kufufufu. I thought I finally caught you this time." A man with long blue hair, tied in a low pony tail, emerged from a cloud of mist to stand next to the Sun Guardian's right. The female Mist Guardian turned around and greeted the man, who was the male Mist Guardian. He wore a black jacket that reached his legs and black leather gloves. His right eye was red, as though he was wearing a contact lens or had eye surgery.

Those eyes swung to her direction and Isa gulped when the man gave her a cold smirk.

Decimo glared at the man. Apparently, it said enough to stop the man from smirking at Isa, who was ready to call it a day and go home to a bottle of strong wine. She dealt with solid portraits for the Vongola Family because she _knew_ that things like this happened around flame users. She wanted so dearly to take pictures of solid objects—of objects that didn't suddenly appear or disappear in front of her eyes. What she caught on camera _existed_ at the time. Then again, what was she thinking? Portraits for the Vongola meant taking pictures of their family and friends, who were all most likely flame users, and not all are polite and will stay in solid form. No, they'll appear, disappear, grow arms and legs...

Isa shook her head and took in a deep breath. "If you're ready, Decimo?"

* * *

Tsuna looked at each of his guardians. This picture would mark the next chapter of their lives. The barriers that kept them separated from the Mafia world would come crashing down. Were they ready? His questioning gaze was returned with smiles, smirks, and glares. Oh yes. He closed his eyes. With a reminiscent smile, he activated his Hyper Dying Will Mode and nodded. "We're ready."

"Very well, Vongola Decimo and fellow Guardians. In three…two…one."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, what did you think? :D Who wants to guess what's going to happen in part two? What do you think of Tsuna? Cool enough? I tried to make him still Tsuna-esque, but rereading DIT 1, I noticed I portrayed him as a rather mysterious character.

Thank you for reading!

 **Uploaded 2016-10-04th**

 **Edited 2016-10-09th**

* * *

 _ **-LLM**_


	4. Inheritance Ceremony Pt 2

**A/N:** Brr, it's getting cold...

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The Ceremony started off fairly straightforward.

The photographer left after taking a few photos of Tsuna and his family. She looked a little shaken, but he thought she handled it fairly well, considering her experience with Mukuro's sudden appearance and evil laugh.

Tsuna and his friends resumed their conversations while Reborn continued to sip his espresso. He wanted to finish it before the Ceremony started.

A knock on the door caused the shouting to cease, and Lambo opened it to admit Timoteo.

"Nono!"

"Sit down, Decimo," Timoteo said with a grin. "Today's the day I hand this old mantel over to you. There's no need for such formalities."

"There always will be," Tsuna said. "Thank you for everything. You taught me so much over the years."

Timoteo gave Tsuna that slow and aged smile of his and chuckled. "I see that I won't have to worry about your manners when you face your enemies."

"What do you mean?"

Timoteo placed both hands on Tsuna's shoulders and gave his successor a once-over. He tried a last-ditch attempt to fix Tsuna hair while he spoke. "We both—Reborn and I—know that you have your own plans for the Vongola. No, Tsunayoshi-kun, there's no need to protest. I'm not complaining. I may have taught you a lot, but I know that you won't use your knowledge the same way I or any other Mafioso would. Even if your enemies know they can't defeat you, they can at least be rest assured that they fell to the hands of the most compassionate boss anyone could ever hope for."

Tsuna covered his cringe with a smile. _Compassionate boss? Maybe. But compassionate guardians? Maybe not._ Tsuna's eyes widened. Boss. Compassion. Maybe not. The ninth. "Oh."

Reborn's eyes flashed. "What is it?"

Tsuna shook his head back and forth. "Nono, if you support me, it might cause problems for you." He looked into Timoteo's eyes and saw the truth of his statement from the slight waver in the ninth's expression. Tsuna raised his hands and dropped them before he could pull at his hair. He paced instead. No one can stop him from pacing.

 _This is_ _why I always felt a little uneasy. Why didn't I_ _realize_ _this problem sooner? I've been thinking hard about reforming the Vongola for years._ Years _. Why did it never occur to me that enemies might attack the ninth once he retires? I saw him every day during my training to become Decimo._

Just like that, Tsuna found his answer. He faced the ninth. "You..." The ninth waited for Tsuna to finish. "Nono, did you really divert my thoughts every time?"

Timoteo's solemn eyes met Tsuna's. "I did. Every time I sensed you were beginning to realize my guardians and I might be in danger from your future choices, I changed the subject—changed where your thoughts would have left you if you had time to think about it."

Not knowing what he did or didn't want to see, Tsuna kept his eyes on Timoteo as he said, "Reborn...?"

"I didn't agree with him," Reborn said, in a rare show of objecting to the ninth's decisions. "I told him you're ready to shoulder any possible consequences."

Tsuna let out a breath. At least he wasn't part of it. "This is a harsh example of manipulation."

Reborn smirked. "You attended the lesson. It's time to apply."

"Reborn, this is your favourite method of teaching!"

"What, tort—you mean real-life examples?"

"Don't say it as though it's not a euphemism for torture!"

"Tsunayoshi-kun, for what it's worth, I'm sorry..."

Tsuna smiled to himself. _Thanks, Reborn._ "Nono, I understand what you were trying to do." Tsuna grimaced. "And...at least I won't be falling for this trick again. I just needed to think for a second. Get my head on straight." Tsuna took another moment to collect his thoughts. He hadn't planned to dive off the deep end, but now that he thought about it... "Most of the pressure will be placed on us. There are a lot of the Vongola who support me. I can talk to the others, or I can try. I know I can. I have enough help already, from my family, from CEDEF, and from the Foundation. We can do this."

"Juudaime." Gokudera and the rest of his guardians stood behind him—a solid, physical support.

Tsuna's lips twitched upward at their silent understanding. "Those who plan to attack you won't have time to try. If they do, I bet you can still hold them off." He grinned. "I won't let them disturb your early retirement."

Timoteo laughed. "Reborn, you're right. There was nothing for me to worry about."

Reborn grunted and tilted his fedora to shadow his dark eyes. _Tsuna being ready and I, Hitman Reborn, letting those consequences happen in the first place are two separate things._

"It's about time we begin," Timoteo said. "They're waiting for you."

 _Here we go._ Tsuna squared his shoulders and followed the ninth out of the room. Coyote, the ninth's Storm Guardian, joined them as they walked through the hushed crowd to the middle of the room. They passed many unfamiliar faces. Most were curious, but some were dissatisfied when they watched Tsuna and his Guardians pass by. He smiled at those he were familiar with and even exchanged brief handshakes with those he started to build connections with over the years.

The first of his old friends that Tsuna spotted was Dino. The Cavallone Boss and a few of his men stood at the very edge of the cleared space. Dino had ditched his coat for a black tux. He would have blended in with his men, except his wild hair was so _him_ that he couldn't be mistaken for anyone else. He flashed a proud smile at Tsuna, who returned it with an easy grin.

This wasn't going to be too bad, Tsuna reasoned. He spotted Enma and his Guardians. It was easy, since the other Mafiosi gave them room, despite needing to crowd the other guests. The only ones who didn't shy away from them were Basil, Fuuta, and I-Pin.

Enma gave him a wide grin and a wink. Tsuna chuckled under his breath and shook his head. Trust Enma to joke about the last Inheritance Ceremony in the middle of the second one.

The Arcobaleno babies, now children, clustered in a group next to Yuni's family, to Tsuna's left. Even Byakuran had made an appearance.

To Tsuna's surprise, Byakuran was standing next to his parents. The man's lips turned up in a smile. "Why, Tsunayoshi-kun," he mouthed, "this is going to be interesting." He ended the message with a glance at Nana, who was beaming at Tsuna.

Tsuna almost scowled at Byakuran but kept his face pleasant. He slid his eyes away from Byakuran, only to meet Xanxus's ice-cold glare. Tsuna steeled himself and gave him a nod. Xanxus scoffed.

Very different from Xanxus's expression, Jacques, the ex-Luna Family member, gave Tsuna an encouraging smile before he and Jacques were distracted by Basil, who had pulled away from the crowd and was stepping into the circle, where the pedestal stood.

"Nono," Basil said with a respectful nod. Then he turned to Tsuna. With a smile, he said, "Decimo."

"Basil," Tsuna's reply was solemn but his eyes softened. It was Basil's shove that helped Tsuna convince Iemitsu to retire. Without Basil's voice, Iemitsu might have really continued to say he needed to support his son as CEDEF's head, forgetting that he had trained Basil for years and that for years more, the boy, now man, has shown potential to be a leader.

The combo-attack by both Tsuna and Basil opened Iemitsu's eyes to the reality that times were changing. His son and his apprentice were both adults who wanted to and were capable of building their own future.

A move from Nono drew Tsuna back to the present.

Nono faced the crowd. "Friends, family! Welcome. Thank you for attending our Inheritance Ceremony." He spread his arms. "The Vongola has reached ten generations. We've come a long way from Primo, and I have to say, I look forward to what our future holds. Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo, will be your new leader. I, my Guardians, my son, and Iemitsu, our retired head of CEDEF, all believe in Decimo, with the Dying Will.

"Now, around this time, I should be presenting Decimo with the Vongola Rings." Nono continued before the murmurs could grow louder, "I have already given Decimo and his Guardians their Vongola Rings. In fact, I left them the rings ten years ago, as many of you know."

That silenced the crowd. No one wanted to make a comment on what happened ten years ago in the Ring Battles, especially not when Xanxus and his assassins were present.

"We are not the only one who acknowledges Decimo. The Wills of the Rings themselves have spoken. Primo and his Guardians accept Decimo and his resolve. The Rings changed to suit the current Boss and Guardians. They are forms we have never had the honour to see before now. We don't know what this will mean for the eleventh generation, but as always, we will do our best to persevere."

Timoteo turned toward Tsuna and his Guardians once more. "Decimo, instead of giving you the Vongola Rings, I am giving you a symbol of my trust and recognition."

Coyote handed Timoteo a package wrapped in blue cloth. The ninth unfolded it as he spoke. "This is one of Primo's journals."

Almost as one, everyone gasped.

"Primo's journal?" Tsuna whispered. He was almost afraid to touch it. He picked up the book from Timoteo's hands and opened it. The sound of the first page turning was like the crack of a whip in the quiet hall.

Tsuna riffled the pages. It was something his ancestor had touched almost every day, if he was going by the entry dates. All of Primo's guardians were mentioned every few pages. There were some names Tsuna wasn't familiar with, but he could look through it after the Ceremony.

 _Wait, how much time did I spend staring at this?_ Tsuna's head shot up and he winced when he saw everyone's eyes on him. _Oh my god, they're staring at me._

Tsuna closed the book and wrapped the blue cloth around it. "This is priceless, Nono. I will treasure it for the rest of my life. Thank you."

The Mafiosi clapped, though many of them shouted over one another with their questions about the book. Tsuna deflected them with what he hoped was a joke, "I haven't even looked at it yet!"

A few chuckled, but the younger ones continued to pester Tsuna until their elders dragged them away.

"But pa, that's _Vongola Primo's_ journal! He could've recorded secrets we've never heard of!"

"First of all—if they are good secrets, you shouldn't have heard of any before. Second, it is Decimo's book now. Those words are for his eyes, and his alone."

Tsuna watched the exchange with a twitching smile and a sweatdrop he hoped no one noticed. He dropped the book into an inner pocket as the music began to play.

Rather than dance, Tsuna mingled with his family and friends, making sure to talk to everyone at least once.

He was chatting with Kyoko, Haru, and Gokudera when he noticed something off.

Gokudera, too, noticed. Haru was telling them about Gokudera's epic fail in baking when he squeezed her hand to stop her story. "Juudaime, isn't that man from the Segno Family? And that one, too. And a third...fourth..."

Tsuna sighed. _Why? Just, why? I just wanted an uneventful night._ "Yeah, it looks like that's everyone from their family who were invited."

"Tch!"

"Hahi! Do you think there's going to be a fight?"

"Probably," Gokudera said as he looked around them for the other guardians.

Haru and Kyoko narrowed their eyes at the guests who tried to hide beneath the shadowed areas of the hall. "They shouldn't have come if they didn't support Tsu-kun," Kyoko said.

Haru agreed and linked her arms with Kyoko's. "Tsuna, I guess we should find your mother and take her to a safe place?"

"Thanks, you two."

"Tch. Don't get into trouble," Gokudera said.

Haru stuck her tongue out at him. "We'll be fine!" Turning to Kyoko, she exclaimed, "This is the perfect chance to ask Nana-san where she bought that dress!"

"You're right, Haru-chan! I think I last saw her talking to Timoteo-san."

 _Say what!?_ Tsuna shook his head. _I can't think about that now._ As Haru and Kyoko left to find Nana, Tsuna noticed that the crowd in the hall was thinning. "A few others are leaving, too," he said.

Gokudera grunted. "They probably don't want to get involved in a fight, even if they're here for the Vongola."

Tsuna smiled. "We can handle it on our own, right?"

"Well—yes, but they're Vongola's allies. If they leave now, they have an excuse to not fight: they weren't close enough to help. The cowards. They left those in the dark to fend for themselves."

"Xanxus is leaving, too," Tsuna pointed out. "Are you going to call him a coward, Hayato?"

Gokudera glowered at Xanxus. "Where's he going?"

"Ushishishi. Why, to take out the trash, of course."

Right next to them stood Bel, in all his manic glory.

"There are Segno Family members in the gardens?" Tsuna asked, his blood chilling. Just how many of them were invited?

Bel flashed them a smile. "Every peasant out there is going to get front row seats of the Varia's parade. Ushishishi. Bye!" With a wave, Bel continued toward the gardens.

"For once, I'm glad I didn't get front row seats."

"Juudaime..."

"What? I have to get my amusement from somewhere if I want to stay sane."

From across the hall, Yamamoto raised a hand in their direction. "I better see what he knows," Gokudera said and peeled off.

Tsuna turned and saw I-Pin and Lambo snapping at each other. Tsuna shook his head with a smile. _Some things never change_ _._

Then I-Pin and Lambo turned toward Tsuna. He blinked at them. "How'd you know I was looking at you?"

"Sawada-san—"

"Tsuna—"

"Tell him it's not okay—"

"Tell her it _is_ okay—"

"—to eat the entire cake!"

Tsuna couldn't help it. He really couldn't. He slapped his right hand to his face and used the other to guide the two fifteen year-olds away from the table of sweets. He physically separated them in a sorry attempt to quell the pointless argument.

"I need the calories if I'm going to be training with Octopus-Head," Lambo said, scowling at I-Pin.

I-Pin leaned forward to narrow her eyes at Lambo. "You need to get your calories from real food!"

Tsuna guided them through the crowd, all the while keeping an eye on the shadows in the hall. Satisfied that everyone else in his family had also noticed, he turned his attention back to the conversation. "I hate to break it to you, Lambo, but I-Pin's right about this."

"But it's—Vongola, it really is okay." Lambo slowed to a stop, and he looked around before giving Tsuna a nervous look.

Tsuna smiled at Lambo, thankful that his Lightning Guardian had sensed the tense atmosphere.

The argument now forgotten, I-Pin and Lambo watched the tall woman watching them from the shadows of a pillar. Her dress was black without a single sequin or sparkle. The only colour to her was her blond hair and ruby-red earrings. She would have blended in with the others at the Ceremony, except for one thing. Where the other guests masked their deadly auras, the woman's oozed out of her like poison.

"Wait right here," Tsuna said and left the two of them next to the drinks. He ignored their protests, just as they were most likely about to ignore his request. He knew they were probably going to follow him, but it became more of a habit than anything else to tell them to stay out of harm's way.

"Oh, Decimo, this is a wonderful night," a man said when he saw Tsuna. Tsuna paused and offered a smile. "Thanks for coming! I hope you enjoyed it."

"Yes, I have. I look forward to tonight's feast!"

Tsuna moved on, only to be stopped by a gaggle of young girls who just "Wanted to say hi!"

He grinned with a wave to accompany it. "Hi!" He moved past them and their giggles.

When he finally made it to the woman by the pillar, he smiled. "Good evening."

The woman smirked. "Good evening, Decimo. A fine venue you've chosen for tonight."

"Thank you. You're from the Segno Family, right?"

Her smirk widened and she crossed her arms.

 _As if that crazy smirk doesn't already tell me something's wrong,_ Tsuna thought.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for the _kind_ invitation. We were very pleased that you thought of us."

"I look forward to meeting your family's boss soon," Tsuna said.

"Ah, yes," the woman said. "You wanted a meeting with us. I remember my boss telling us about that. See, we've heard about you. And we guessed what you wanted to talk to us about."

"Really?"

She leaned in as though sharing a secret. Tsuna remained standing as he was and focused on her cold, blue eyes.

"You're changing things. And we don't like it."

Tsuna jerked back just before a knife would have slit his throat.

No one else had noticed the move, except for his family.

Her eyes widened when she realized that Tsuna had dodged. But it was too late. If she were prepared for her attack to fail, she could have stopped Tsuna, who swiped her legs from under her.

In that instant, the others of the Segno Family attacked all of Tsuna's guardians and known allies.

Dino fought off a dozen with his men while ten charged at Ryohei and Hibari.

Some guests fought against the Segno's members, but most of them screamed and scrambled to get away. Those who tried for the gardens realized very quickly that it wasn't the best route; those Segno members had already begun to fight and so had Xanxus.

From beneath a table, I-Pin and Lambo charged out, guns blazing—metaphorical guns, of course.

I-Pin jumped in with her hands and feet, kicking, punching, and bulldozing past those who resisted. Her battle cries pierced through the air, accompanied by her opponents' howls of pain.

Lambo tackled some of the members with his old yellow horns but quickly realized they were too strong for them. He lit the Lightning Class ring on his middle finger and opened his box weapon. Out came his Lightning Helm. Wasting not a single moment, he used his weapon to attract all of the enemies' metal to him.

Tsuna ducked as a gun flew straight toward him and swerved to the side as a knife followed right after. _That's Lambo's technique!_

Gokudera swore as he restrained two Segno members. "I told that Stupid Cow to warn us before he uses that move!"

"Haha! Maa, it works out in the end," Yamamoto said, with a firm hold on both of his swords, which were quivering in his hands. "I wonder if there's a way to control whose metal gets attracted to it."

The members who could still stand retreated. "You'll regret this!" they shouted as they escaped. Before anyone could think to go after them, the Segno Family had disappeared.

"Is everyone alright?" Tsuna asked.

Gokudera and Yamamoto glanced at him, and noticed their boss was in Hyper Dying Will Mode.

Yamamoto gave Tsuna a grin. "We're fine. Oh! And I just saw Sawada-san with Haru and Kyoko."

"They need extreme training if they want to defeat us!"

Chrome knocked out an opponent who tried to push her in his escape. Instead, the man fell, stone-cold to the floor. "I'm alright."

Tsuna nodded and turned around to where he still heard fighting. He dropped his Hyper Mode along with his jaw. "Seriously? How did this happen!?"

Mukuro and Hibari had ended up... _not_ fighting against the Segno Family—oh, no, not them. They had already created a small pile of those enemies—no, they were fighting one another.

"Guys...you two are so dead," Tsuna muttered. "I can't believe I agreed to that bet with Reborn."

"Why _did_ you?" Lambo asked as he teetered toward them. Yamamoto caught his shoulders and kept the Lightning Guardian steady while the teenager removed his Vongola Gear and the assortment of weapons stuck to it.

"I was feeling confident that day," Tsuna muttered while watching his Mist and Cloud Guardians fight. "They hadn't fought each other in three days." He looked around. Maybe if Reborn didn't realize Mukuro and Hibari had a fight, the bet would still be on...

"Where's Reborn?" Tsuna asked.

His guardians looked around, realizing for the first time that Reborn wasn't with them.

Tsuna sighed and took out a cell phone. He called Reborn and waited for his tutor to answer. "Reborn! Where are you? The Segno Family just attacked us!"

" _I'm with Irie Shouichi."_

"Uh...why?"

" _We're defusing a bomb."_

"WHAT?"

" _Dame-Tsuna, you're distracting Shouichi, and he's already nervous. I'll call you back. Ciao."_

"Great," Tsuna said when Reborn hung up on him.

"Decimo, are you alright?" The Mafiosi who stayed behind to fight were approaching Tsuna. "Are you injured at all?"

"Of course he isn't! Did you see him in action? Decimo is amazing!"

"His Guardians fought so well together!"

In the background, Mukuro and Hibari's weapons clashed.

"Lambo-san, exactly what was that technique?"

"I didn't even know what was happening until Decimo was almost killed by that dreadful woman!"

"That was a wonderful prelude to dinner, won't you say?"

 _Uhh...Not really._

"Yes! I'm starving!"

Tsuna latched onto that comment. "No doubt, we're all starving after that battle. The dinner bell rang half-way through the fight, so there's no waiting necessary! The dining room is just down that hallway. In fact, I see that one of our kitchen staff is waiting for us by the door."

The young boy Tsuna pointed to stood frozen on the spot for a second as a group of Mafiosi stampeded toward him. "Th-This way, sir...madam..." he said and quickened his pace to keep ahead of the crowd.

After they left the hall, Tsuna finally took in the mess of the room. Tables were overturned, food was spilled, and chairs were broken. Drinks were splattered on walls with the occasional smear of blood. He thanked whatever god was listening that there weren't any _pools_ of blood.

The carpet looked beyond repair, what with the stains and tears it suffered. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do about all this. He snorted. Most likely, he'd have to _pay_ for the damage.

Or he could bill it to the Segno Family, since they started the fight. That sounded perfect. Now all he had to do was find their hideout, which no doubt, had moved locations.

"Tsuna," Yamamoto said. "They've been fighting for ten minutes."

Tsuna sighed. "I guess it's time to break it up. Onii-san, do you want to help?"

Ryohei thumped a fist in the air. "A or B?"

Tsuna tilted his head and studied Mukuro and Hibari. He activated his Hyper Mode. "D, I think."

"YOSH! Operation Stop Pineapple Head and the Prefect: D!"

Tsuna closed his eyes. "Please don't name the plans..."

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm sorry to say that there isn't a lot of Nana in this one. But to make up for it, things are getting crazy? Thank you all for the fantastic reviews/favs/alerts. You're all awesome!

The next chapter will be going back to the present time, with the detectives from DOCI (I feel like I need some kind of catchphrase for them. Can't use "Truth" since DC took that concept...hm. Something to think about).

 **Anonymous Reviews:**

 **Great:** Hah! Yes! That photographer has a smart boss. Luckily, nothing too terrible happened...

 **Guest:** I hope this was worth the wait! :D

 **Uploaded 2016-10-25th**

 **Edited 2016-11-17th  
**

* * *

 _ **-LLM**_


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